This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ANKARA 001595 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, EUR/PGI, EUR/SE 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD PREF TU TIP IN TURKEY
SUBJECT: TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS: PROGRESS IN TURKEY 
 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: G/TIP officer and Emboff met with government 
and non-government organizations in Ankara and Trabzon 
February 23-24 to explore Turkey's progress in combating 
trafficking in persons (TIP).  An MFA official  anti-TIP 
noted progress in training programs, provision of 
humanitarian visas and free medical care available to TIP 
victims.  He said the GOT has not secured funding to open 
planned shelters for TIP victims.  A Security Directorate 
representative said the GOT seeks cooperation with other 
countries in the region to combat TIP.  He also provided 
specific examples of cases where GOT authorities provided 
assistance to TIP victims.  In Trabzon, the new Chief 
Prosecutor supported the 2003 hotel raids and TIP-related 
arrests, although he said police could have handled the raid 
with "more sensitivity."  A Russian Consul in Trabzon said 
Turkey has made "huge progress" against TIP in recent years; 
unlike in past years, for the past two years no Russian women 
have complained to the Consulate about abusive treatment by 
Turkish officials. END SUMMARY. 
 
 
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MFA 
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¶2. (U) Newly appointed Turkish MFA Consular Affairs Deputy 
Director Haldun Otman outlined ongoing GOT efforts to combat 
trafficking in persons (TIP), citing the GOT's progress in 
implementing a protocol signed between the Ministry of 
Interior's (MOI) Security Directorate and the Istanbul-based 
NGO Human Resource Development Foundation (HRDF).  Among 
other trafficking prevention measures, the protocol provides 
for police, prosecutor and judge training programs and the 
establishment of a regional network of service-providing 
NGOs. 
 
 
¶3. (U) Otman also noted that the Turkish Ministry of Health 
(MOH) and Ministry of Justice (MOJ) combine to provide 
free-of-charge medical and psychological services, legal 
services, and public awareness campaigns designed to alert 
trafficking victims to available assistance.  Additional 
services to trafficking victims, Otman noted, hinge on the 
GOT's ability to obtain funding for a shelter or shelters 
that could actually provide the services. 
 
 
¶3. (U) According to Otman, 18 trafficking victims have 
received humanitarian visas for extended stays in Turkey for 
medical attention and legal services.  Some victims also 
choose to remain in Turkey to act as witnesses in criminal 
proceedings against their traffickers.  Under recently 
enacted provisions of the Turkish Penal Code (Section 201B), 
108 plaintiffs have combined to file 37 court cases against 
126 accused traffickers. 
 
 
-------------------- 
SECURITY DIRECTORATE 
-------------------- 
 
 
¶4. (U) According to Mehmet Terzioglu, the Security 
Directorate,s Head of Department for Foreigners and Border 
and Immigration Affairs, Turkey,s active membership in the 
Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe has spurred efforts 
at all levels of government to combat human trafficking.  New 
laws currently being pushed through Parliament would increase 
punishments for organized traffickers. 
 
 
¶5. (U) Terzioglu claims prosecutors in Turkey are currently 
pursuing 63 TIP investigations.  He also noted that five 
additional investigations ultimately resulted in acquittals. 
"Since 1996," Terzioglu observed, "police have captured 
27,000 people involved in voluntary prostitution.  We know 
there's a problem, but many times victims are not ready to 
cooperate." 
 
 
¶6. (U) As part of Turkey's proactive efforts to solicit 
counter-trafficking agreements with source country law 
enforcement agencies, Terzioglu continued, MOI plans to sign 
an open lines of communication protocol with Belarus -- 
Russia, Moldova, Georgia and other source countries have not 
yet replied to similar GOT requests for cooperation.  The 
protocol designates points of contact between the two 
countries' law enforcement agencies and provides for joint 
police operations to target cross border traffickers. 
 
 
¶7. (U) Terzioglu highlighted several TIP training and 
awareness events held within the G/TIP reporting period 
designed to introduce procedures to law enforcement and 
judiciary officials for handling potential human trafficking 
cases,  including: 
 
 
-     A seminar held during G/TIP officer,s visit and hosted 
by Turkish military police to review border enforcement 
efforts, and to train officers in detecting forged documents. 
  Representative from the International Organization for 
Migration (IOM) presented TIP training portion of the seminar; 
 
 
-     A February 16-20, 2004 Expertise Training Program on 
Illegal Immigration, Human Smuggling & Counterfeiting 
sponsored by the Turkish International Academy Against Drugs 
and Organized Crime (TADOC).  TADOC staff participated in 
training exercises in Tirana, Albania.  Details about the 
training programs are available on the TADOC website at: 
http://www.tadoc.gov.tr/English; 
 
 
-     Two 2-day TIP seminars funded by the U.S. and British 
Embassies and attended by 50 chief prosecutors, 
representatives from NGO HRDF, the Ministries of Interior and 
Justice and the IOM; 
 
 
-     A January 26-30, 2004 MOI program to train judges and 
public prosecutors on methods for identifying TIP victims; 
 
 
-     A January 19-23, 2004 TADOC Regional Expertise Training 
Program On Illegal Immigration, Human Smuggling & 
Counterfeiting; 
 
 
-     The distribution of 5 major circulars to provinces 
giving criteria to Turkish law enforcement agencies to help 
appropriate officers determine between free-will prostitution 
and human trafficking; 
 
 
-     A December 18, 2003 &Combating Human Trafficking8 
panel established by the General Directorate of the Status 
and Problems of Women.  Chiefs of security, NGOs, and local 
members of the press participated in the panels; 
 
 
-     An October 2, 2003  &Introduction to Asylum Law8 
seminar for 40 judges and prosecutors in Antalya, Turkey. 
Terzioglu claims the Ministry of Justice in cooperation with 
UNHCR organized the seminar; 
 
 
-     The October 2003 adoption of anti-human trafficking 
course curriculum for Turkish military police and Turkish 
Coast Guard cadets; 
 
 
-     The establishment of victim hotlines for Turkish 
National Police (ALO 155) and for Turkish Military Police 
(156). 
 
 
¶9. (U) Terzioglu cited 3 separate examples of human services 
for victims of trafficking: 
 
 
- On February 24, 2004, military police transferred a young 
Moldovan woman to Turkish National Police (TNP) officers. 
The victim followed an older sister, who was reportedly 
freely engaged in prostitution, to Turkey.  TNP is still 
investigating.  The victim requested repatriation and was 
referred to IOM.  Terzioglu granted IOM permission to 
physically accompany the victim to her flight, a development 
that, Terzioglu highlighted and IOM enthusiastically noted, 
represents a significant positive change in policy. 
 
 
- In February 2004 ) A victim identified in Trabzon took 
advantage of Turkey,s humanitarian visa program to remain in 
Turkey while, at GOT expense, she was treated for sexually 
transmitted diseases and provided with abortion services. 
 
 
- In January 2004 ) Victims applied to security forces in 
Mugla and shared what little information they could about 
their traffickers.  Victims were immediately screened and 
tested for STDs.  The investigation is ongoing. 
 
 
¶10. (U) Terzioglu also noted the September 2003 
implementation of Turkey,s &Law on Work Permits for 
Foreigners.8  The new law, Terzioglu claims, was designed to 
prevent and punish illegal employment, including prostitution 
by foreigners, and to centralize authority for issuing, 
supervising and monitoring work permits. 
 
 
¶11. (U) Terzioglu provided a list of victims of trafficking 
currently obtaining medical treatment and/or waiting to serve 
as witnesses in court proceedings against traffickers. 
Embassy TIP officer is currently awaiting additional 
information about these and other victims (ref. paragraph 3) 
and the progress of their court cases, including numbers of 
arrests, prosecutions, convictions, acquittals and sentences. 
 
 
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TRABZON 
------- 
 
 
¶12. (U) G/TIP officer met with members of the Trabzon Bar 
Association who reviewed Trabzon,s hottest TIP issue:  Hotel 
owners claim that unconstitutional police action taken 
against suspected human trafficking rings last summer had 
irreparably damaged local tourism.  Though court action is 
pending, Trabzon,s former Security Director Hamdi Gungor was 
reportedly removed from his position in September 2003 after 
executing a series of raids on local Trabzon hotels.  The 
attorneys report that police officers indiscriminately 
rounded up owners and patrons of local hotels on suspicions 
that the hotels were trafficking women.  The investigation is 
ongoing as are the lawsuits. 
 
 
¶13. (U) Trabzon,s new Chief Prosecutor Burhan Cobanoglu was 
enthusiastic about the hotel arrests but admitted that police 
officials could have handled the investigation with more 
sensitivity.  Cobanoglu, a participant in several of the 
training programs referenced in para 7, carefully explained 
the process for identifying and processing victims and 
traffickers in Trabzon: 
 
 
- &In general, the cases are the same.  Women are misled 
about the situation, but generally willing to engage in 
illegal prostitution.  The situation turns bad when the 
victim is unable to escape.8 
 
 
- &Victims usually first approach us, but in the case of the 
summer arrests, we identified them.  When police first 
identify a victim, they are trained to be very careful to 
warn the person that they are not guilty and will not be 
treated as criminals.8 
 
 
- &We,ve amended our law and it is now possible to issue 
short-term visas.  During their residency, women are treated 
well, given medical attention, and are given the option to 
stay in Turkey to serve as a witness in the trafficker,s 
trial.8 
 
 
- &One specific article in the Penal Code refers to those 
who provide assistance or shelter to the trafficker.8  Under 
Section 201 A and B of the Turkish Penal Code, taxi drivers, 
hotel receptionists and any other individuals taking a 
secondary role in the crime can also be punished. 
 
 
- &Before 201b was adopted, we were sending these cases to 
Erzurum.  With 201b, we,re able to try these cases here in 
Trabzon,s public courts.  It,s much easier on the victims.8 
 
 
¶14. (U) According to Cobanoglu, there are currently three 
ongoing TIP cases including the newest case from Trabzon,s 
Gunes Hotel opened in February 2004.  Though he declined to 
reveal specific details about the cases, he outlined in 
general terms the process police followed.  &In the Gunes 
case, police requested surveillance of several suspected 
hotels, collected intelligence, and, when we had enough 
evidence to act on, they arrested the traffickers and their 
accomplices.8 
 
 
¶15. (U) According to Cobanoglu, public prosecutors received 
49 cases in 2003, involving 144 suspects and 190 victims (140 
men in forced labor situations and 50 women in forced 
prostitution situations). 
 
 
¶16. (U) Russian Consul Ebruz Kargiyev, serving his third tour 
in Turkey, commented on Trabzon,s current TIP situation: 
&Huge progress has been made, probably due to Turkey,s 
desire to enter into the EU.8  The Russian Consulate, 
according to Kargiyev, repatriated 150 women in 2001, 110 
women in 2002, and 80 women in 2003.  &Raids on 18 hotels 
have led to 8 hotel closures,8 Kargiyev said, also touting 
his Consulate,s great success in dealing with Cobanoglu, and 
with the Turkish MFA.  He said the Consulate is working with 
the MFA to have an MFA representative assigned to the Russian 
Embassy to help with trafficking and repatriation issues. 
&Girls who come to Turkey from the former Soviet Union are 
fully aware of what they are going to do,8 Kargiyev 
observed.  &Four years ago women complained about beatings. 
In the last two years, not a single woman who has come to the 
Russian Consulate has complained of abuse by Turkish 
officials.8 
EDELMAN